The Mountain of the Lord
1 It shall come to pass oin the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
2 and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,1
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;
and they shall pbeat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;
4 qbut they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
rand no one shall make them afraid,
sfor the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 For tall the peoples walk
each in the name of its god,
but uwe will walk in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever.
The Lord Shall Rescue Zion
6 vIn that day, declares the Lord,
and gather those who have been driven away
and those whom I have afflicted;
7 and the lame I will make ythe remnant,
and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and zthe Lord will reign over them ain Mount Zion
from this time forth and forevermore.
8 And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
the former dominion shall come,
kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why do you cry aloud?
bIs there no king in you?
cHas your counselor perished,
that dpain seized you like a woman in labor?
10 eWrithe and groan,2 O daughter of Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for fnow you shall go out from the city
and dwell in the open country;
you gshall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
hthere the Lord will redeem you
from the hand of your enemies.
11 Now imany nations
are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
and jlet our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
12 But kthey do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
that lhe has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh,
O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn iron,
and I will make your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
and mshall devote3 ntheir gain to the Lord,
their wealth to othe Lord of the whole earth.
The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem
1 4 Now muster your troops, O daughter5 of troops;
siege is laid against us;
with a rod pthey strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek.
2 6 qBut you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of rJudah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be sruler in Israel,
twhose coming forth is ufrom of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up vuntil the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then wthe rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand xand shepherd his flock yin the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now zhe shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be atheir peace.
bWhen the Assyrian comes into our land
and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven cshepherds
and eight princes of men;
6 they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of dNimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
bwhen he comes into our land
and treads within our border.
A Remnant Shall Be Delivered
7 Then wthe remnant of Jacob shall be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,
which delay not for a man
nor wait for the children of man.
8 And wthe remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
ewhich, when it goes through, treads down
and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
9 Your hand shall fbe lifted up over your adversaries,
and all your enemies shall be cut off.
10 And gin that day, declares the Lord,
hI will cut off your horses from among you
and will destroy your chariots;
11 iand I will cut off the cities of your land
and throw down all your strongholds;
12 and I will cut off jsorceries from your hand,
and kyou shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
13 and lI will cut off your carved images
and myour pillars from among you,
nand you shall bow down no more
to the work of your hands;
14 and I will root out your oAsherah images from among you
iand destroy your cities.
15 And in anger and wrath pI will execute vengeance
on the nations that did not obey.
18 On the following day Paul went in with us to mJames, and all nthe elders were present. 19 After greeting them, ohe related one by one pthe things that God had done among the Gentiles through his qministry. 20 And when they heard it, they rglorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all szealous for the law, 21 and they have been told about you that you teach all tthe Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, utelling them vnot to circumcise their children or wwalk according to xour customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men ywho are under a vow; 24 take these men and zpurify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, yso that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. 25 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, awe have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled,1 and from sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day zhe purified himself along with them and bwent into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and cthe offering presented for each one of them.
Paul Arrested in the Temple
27 When cthe seven days were almost completed, dthe Jews from Asia, eseeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who fis teaching everyone everywhere against the people and gthe law and gthis place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and hhas defiled gthis holy place.” 29 For they had previously seen iTrophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and jdragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. 31 jAnd as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of kthe cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 lHe at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him mto be bound nwith two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. 34 oSome in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into pthe barracks. 35 And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 36 for the mob of the people followed, crying out, q“Away with him!”
Paul Speaks to the People
37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Are you not rthe Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out sinto the wilderness?” 39 Paul replied, t“I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” 40 And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, umotioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in vthe Hebrew language,2 saying:
